Blaze felt immense pleasure watching the strange expressions on the cultists’ faces. He loved how they always held on to hope, only to get it crushed a second later.
First, it was the initiates who lost hope. Then the zealots.
He thought the enforcers would fall into the pit of despair next, yet they kept fighting back.
Something kept fueling their courage, and he wanted to know what it was.
The enforcers were the strongest bunch of humans he had faced. But physical strength didn’t translate to mental fortitude. He knew they must have been trained in a certain way to never give up.
Blaze wanted to know how.
The more he understood about their training, the better he could make plans to counter them, and the cultists who would come for him next.
Especially since my enemies would only get stronger from here onwards.
As he thought that, Blaze’s eyes fell on June. He had thought her teleportation abilities were troublesome. That’s why he wanted her, but she was hiding more tricks up her sleeve. It made her even more precious to have.
"How about I make things easier for you?" Blaze said, pointing at June. "As long as you leave her behind, I’ll allow everyone alive to leave."
The cultists were stunned.
They didn’t think Blaze would let them leave under any circumstances. But there he was, contradicting their thoughts.
One life against dozens. The scale tilted towards the rest. Still, they were hesitant.
After all, June was perhaps the strongest among them. Not only that, she also possessed intel about various cults’ activities.
Was leaving her with Blaze the right choice?
"What do you plan to do with her?" one enforcer asked.
"Does it matter?" Blaze replied. "I’m giving you your freedom. Isn’t that enough?"
The enforcer got in front of June, holding a shield as tall as himself. Others followed suit. It was clear they weren’t going to give up.
"You’re quite stubborn, aren’t you?" Blaze asked, massaging his forehead. "Fine. I’ll be the benevolent host and grant you the death you crave so much."
He continued, staring into June’s eyes, "Though I wonder if that’s what she would want. Remember, you can change your mind anytime you want. I’ll stop, even if I’m feeding them to my horde."
June bit her lip, staring at the ground, trying not to imagine such a sight.
Just minutes ago, she wanted everyone to leave her behind. Now that Blaze had given them a chance to do it, she was too scared to say a word.
The thought of being left with Blaze in the city of death terrified her. She couldn’t and didn’t even want to imagine the things he’d do with her.
"You don’t need to say anything," an enforcer reassured her. "If he wants you, he’ll have to go through us."
The rest turned towards Blaze with a challenge in mind.
"Are you up for a challenge, Mr. Blaze?" someone asked.
"I reckon since you love playing games," he continued, "why don’t you fight all of us alone?"
In the briefing, Blaze had been shown to them as an egomaniac. Someone who could be manipulated as long as one hurt his ego.
The cultists wanted to give themselves the best chance of survival and thought their trick would work.
Unfortunately, the information they had was based on half-truths and speculation.
The cultists went silent when Blaze began laughing heartily. How could he not laugh at their joke?
"You’ve misunderstood," he said. "I toyed with you because I could. The strong can do whatever they like to the weak. What gives you the gall to think you can do the same to me?"
The cultists nervously gripped their weapons. They knew they didn’t stand a chance against the horde. That’s why they took the gamble of playing with his ego.
However, it seemed their brilliant strategy had backfired on them.
One word from Blaze and his horde would crush them. But then, Blaze threw them a lifeline.
"Very well," he said. "I accept your challenge, just because you made me laugh. So, what will it be? An all-out attack or the path of honor?"
To think a zombie would talk about honor... It was ridiculous. Then again, it could be his way of playing with their minds. They already knew what the path of honor meant: one-on-one duels.
However, after facing Breaker, the enforcers weren’t confident in their strength. An all-out attack was their best chance to eliminate Blaze.
Still, a thought lingered in their minds.
Could they defeat someone like Blaze if they couldn’t even kill Breaker?
"Buy me some time," June mumbled, lifting the crossbow with the remaining hand. "We’ll use the same move to kill him."
"But how will you—?" An enforcer objected.
The attack she used on Breaker was deadly. But that was the case when she wasn’t injured.
Now that she only had one hand, aiming the crossbow was impossible. Not to mention, Blaze wasn’t as big as Breaker. The chances of missing were much higher.
To make things worse, she might die of exhaustion even if the crossbow didn’t blow her face off.
If she were willing to die, then they should just leave her there. Why stage all this drama?
Then they realized something. June was doing it because Blaze didn’t have protective layers like the zombie from before. That made killing him much easier, and if they could kill Blaze, then they’d be happy even if they all died.
"I won’t die," June replied, knowing what was going on in their heads. "Though I will become a liability..."
"Fine... you should focus on regaining strength," the enforcer with the shield replied. "We’ll keep the bastard busy."
"Thank you..." ᴛʜɪs ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀ ɪs ᴜᴘᴅᴀᴛᴇ ʙʏ noᴠelfire.net
"Save that for when the elders punish us."
The enforcers let out a chuckle. It was safe to say they had forgotten everything about pain and despair. They no longer feared death.
At least, not the death they knew existed.
"Have you decided yet?" Blaze asked, acting like he didn’t hear every word they said.
"Yes," the shield hero replied, slamming his shield down. "We have decided to rip you to shreds!"
"Must feel good to have such dreams," Blaze scoffed, unleashing his tendrils. "Though I know it feels great to crush them."